


Support, Understand, Care, Comfort

by coachdad (catsnore)



Series: Spit Out Those Fake Plastic Teeth and Try Again, Damn It [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Vampire!Lance, also there are vampires- beware!!!, pidge is nonbinary in this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-29 13:35:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8491750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catsnore/pseuds/coachdad
Summary: Keith is dragged to a Halloween party by Pidge and Shiro, much to his displeasure. Oh well, at least it's a chance to show off the costume he's been working on for months. He's the best vampire in the party by far. That is until he sees the sparkly costume from across the room...





	

**Author's Note:**

> In this au, the Voltron gang are all college students. Keith, Hunk, and Lance are all second-years, Pidge is a freshman who graduated high school early, and Shiro is a grad student. If I ever do anything else with this AU, Allura would also be a grad student, and Coran would be a professor or something.

For the life of him, Keith could not remember how he had been convinced to come to this house party. He knew he was sober, and he knew he wasn’t dragged here by force, but the conversations he had with Pidge and Shiro, the ones in which he’d agreed to go out in public, completely escaped him at the moment. All he could think about was how no one else put nearly as much thought into their costume as he did. He’d been working on this costume for months, after all. Everyone else, it seemed, bought theirs at a dollar store. He was sure one of the mummies walking around was wrapped in _actual toilet paper_.

Keith swirled his punch around in his cup. He sewed these gloves by hand. The stitching was precise and the seams perfectly straight. The embroidery on his waistcoat was done by a professional, aka _himself_ . His hair was pulled back by a ribbon he made himself, just to make sure it was exactly right. The prosthetic fangs he bought were of the highest quality, and _retractable_ to boot. He bought the deepest red contacts he could afford, and they looked awesome, even if they irritated the hell out of his eyes. He’d even looked into stage makeup so he could get the right effects for the bite mark on his neck, and it was hidden by his cravat!

By far, Keith had the coolest looking vampire costume in the entire party. Pidge and Shiro, though still prepared, hadn’t been able to replicate Keith’s particular brand of obsessiveness. When they came to pick him up, Shiro had been speechless. Pidge had just sighed, “You really need a job,” which was rich coming from someone who got their Tron costume to light up by themselves.

Maybe they were right, he thought. He watched some asshole in a Joker costume stick their fingers in the cheese dip, taste them, and make a face. Maybe he was taking Halloween too seriously. It was just an excuse for all the kids on campus to dress up and get drunk after all. That wasn’t his fault, though. Just because he had more fun showing off everything he learned in his costuming class than actually socializing didn’t mean he was doing it _wrong_ , right? He just had all his fun earlier! If he really thought about it, he had more fun than the rest of them, because his fun lasted for weeks instead of only a few hours. It’s just that it was already over.

Pidge elbowed him, snapping him out of his train of thought. Their messy ginger hair stuck out of their Tron helmet at odd angles. They looked about as rustled as Keith felt, especially without their glasses. “Hey, I’m gonna say hi to Hunk.” They cocked their head in the direction of a large Hawaiian man in a Wal-Mart yellow power ranger costume. Keith vaguely remembered Pidge talking about a guy named Hunk in their engineering class. “Are you gonna be ok until I get back?”

Keith frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be ok?” The music blaring from the speakers suddenly switched to another Rihanna song, causing him to jump. For a college student's apartment, there was a surprisingly loud sound system set up. Adding in the fog machine, it almost seemed like the party was downtown instead of in some guy's living room.

They must have been waiting for him to ask, because a wide grin spread across Pidge’s face. “You know, in case someone asks if you’re the Phantom of the Opera again. Can you handle that alone?”

He felt his face get hot. “I still don’t know how they messed that up! I’m not even wearing a mask!” He was _obviously_ Louis! _Interview with the Vampire_ was famous for its vampire costumes. Wasn’t it? It should be!

“Yup, you definitely sound like you’ll keep your cool. See ya!” Pidge gave a flippant wave before moving into the crowd. Keith could only make out the glowing lines of their costume for a few moments until they disappeared.

Okay, this was fine. He just got ditched by his antisocial party soulmate, but that wasn’t a big deal. Keith took a step towards the punch bowl to refill his drink. He craned his neck for a glimpse of Shiro, who had wandered off pretty much as soon as they arrived. He was a hopeless extrovert, and too busy being a grad student to socialize as much as he wanted, so Keith couldn’t blame him. What Keith _could_ blame him for was his piss-poor excuse for a Clark Kent costume; just a Superman shirt under his regular button-up and a pair of glasses. At least Pidge put some effort into being Tron.

He finally made eye contact with Shiro, who was talking to some brown-haired guy Keith didn’t recognize. Shiro waved and gestured for Keith to come over with his good hand. Keith, not coming up with anything better to do, grudgingly made his way towards the pair. Moving around much in his costume was harder than it looked, and the going was slow. He stared at Shiro the whole time, like the man had turned into the North Star, or something. When the man Shiro was talking to blocked his line of sight, though, Keith’s mood turned sour. It got even worse when he noticed what, exactly, the man was wearing.

It was the worst vampire costume Keith had ever seen in his life. The guy was wearing a bright red cape made out of the cheapest satin imaginable (which didn’t even cover his ass, by the way), too-tight black leggings, and a shirt that said ‘FREE SUCC’ in huge letters across the chest once he turned around. He couldn’t be sure in the low light, but he guessed that was a headband with bat ears perched on his head.

Keith couldn’t hide the scowl on his face as he approached the pair. Shiro smiled in a way Keith was sure was meant to be appeasing. That combined with the forced way he patted Keith’s shoulder told him to _calm the fuck down_ without him saying a word. “You got over here without ripping something?” he teased. Keith ignored him. “Lance, this is the guy I was talking about. My little brother.” Sort of little brother, at least, Keith thought. He didn’t bother correcting him. Even though Shiro's parents had never officially adopted Keith, Shiro had brought him into his family years ago. Calling him anything other than 'brother' just felt wrong. He still got a little embarrassed whenever Shiro introduced him as such, though.

Now that Keith was up close, the costume was even worse than he’d previously thought. He was right about the bat ears, which were pinned haphazardly to his hair. They were covered in sequins, a detail Keith missed earlier. Lance, apparently, had also slathered cheap purple paint all over his face, and exaggerated black bags painted under his eyes. The whole look was topped off by a trail of neon red ‘blood’ running out of the corner of his mouth. His eyes, by the way, were _blue_. What kind of vampire had blue eyes? Keith could’ve forgiven the oversight if it wasn’t so obvious that the guy was wearing bright blue contacts. If he’d gone to all those lengths to get colored lenses, _why blue_?? Why would someone make such an intentionally shitty costume?? Was it some kind of joke? Was it supposed to be funny that an attractive guy with nice hair was wearing something so cheap?

Keith pushed that last thought away.

The shitty vampire grinned, exposing comically large plastic fangs. “Keith, right? Shiro said I would totally dig your costume, and he was _not_ wrong.” How was he talking around those things? “The name’s Lance.” His voice was higher-pitched than Keith was expecting, but not in a bad way. He could’ve sworn he saw Lance give him a once over. He willed himself not to tense up.

Lance stuck out a hand in greeting, and being the civil person that he was, Keith gingerly shook it. Even through his gloves, he noticed that Lance’s hand felt like ice. “I’m a vampire too,” he added, looking incredibly smug for reasons Keith couldn’t even begin to comprehend.

“Right…” Keith glanced at the shirt again. “That’s... Quite a statement.” The displeased look on his face must’ve been more obvious than he thought, because Lance quickly jumped to attention.

“There’s more to the shirt, see?” He turned around and flipped up the garish cape, exposing the words ‘Support, Understand, Care, Comfort’ across his shoulders. Somehow, Keith failed to be impressed. Even with how surprisingly broad his shoulders were. They sure looked strong... He shook his head to get rid of the thought.

“All you told me was ‘that’s why they call me the Count, not the Spell,’ when I asked.” Shiro looked amused. Had he noticed him staring? Keith couldn’t tell.

“Yeah, I didn’t even have to think about that one.” Did Lance ever stop smiling? How did his lips look that soft? What kind of chapstick did he use? Keith had so many questions. “It just came to me.”

Keith’s mouth was suddenly dry. He gulped down the remainder of his punch in one go so he could avoid trying to talk.

“Where’s Pidge?” Shiro asked, as if it just hit him that Keith had walked over without his party buddy. To be fair, it was quite plausible that Shiro assumed Pidge had been too short to see from that far away.

Keith shrugged, staring at his empty cup. “They went to go hang out with their friend from class. Hunk, I think?” He tried to give Shiro a look, but he couldn’t stop the proud glint from appearing in his eyes.

“Hunk?” Lance piped up, looking excited again. Keith decided that was just his face. “That’s my roommate. He helped me with my cape.” He gave a half-twirl as if to show it off. Keith’s eyes lingered on his hips as he moved. It was the cape’s fault for being too short, not his. He was just a man, helpless against the allure of tight pants.

“You didn’t buy that somewhere?” he asked, his voice flat despite the fact that his thoughts were rapidly spiraling out of control.

Lance ignored the question. “Whoa, what kind of teeth do you have in?” he asked, leaning close to Keith’s face to inspect it. The purple makeup on his face was peeling off, revealing dark skin underneath. Something about the blue of his eyes was a little unnerving, and Keith couldn’t help but lean away a little. He could feel heat creep into his cheeks under the man’s gaze.

He shook it off easily though. Now wasn’t the time to be weird, especially not with the waves of encouragement emanating from Shiro’s direction. The best thing to do would be to show him his teeth, right? Instead of speaking, he opened his lips. Keith pressed his tongue against the bar spanning the roof of his mouth, causing the fangs to slide into view.

Lance whistled low, his eyebrows shooting straight up. “Holy crow!” His eyes went impossibly wide. Wait, he actually made some pretty good expressions, didn’t he? “Where’d you get those? Halloween Express?”

What- _Halloween Express?_ Keith blinked, dumbfounded, at the exact same time that Shiro snorted loudly beside him. That earned him an elbow to the side. “What? No, I ordered these online, like a professional.” He was too surprised to be mad, especially since it seemed like Lance had meant that as a compliment. The surprise also managed to ground him a bit. Why was he getting all flustered by a goofball in a shitty vampire costume?

“Oh, right.” Lance laughed. He absently ran his tongue along the length of the plastic in his mouth. “I’ve never seen retractable ones before. That’s pretty cool, man!” He clapped Keith on the back, causing him to stumble a bit. The smile on his face turned devilish before he continued speaking. “How long did it take to get all that stuff on, anyway?” He gestured towards pretty much all of Keith’s outfit.

Keith shrugged, looking down at his boots, which happened to be both the only part of the costume he hadn’t made _and_ the part he was most insecure about. They had been surprisingly hard to put on after he’d stuffed himself in his many layers of clothing.

“Wonder how long it’d be to take them off, then,” Lance hummed from above him, before Keith even had a chance to answer.

Keith shot straight up to see the most shit-eating grin _ever_ on Lance’s face. The man was even waggling his eyebrows. Wait, was he _hitting on him_? Or was he just making fun of him? Keith promptly did his best fish out of water impression, completely at a loss for what to say.

He glanced towards Shiro for help and almost gagged: if Shiro looked any prouder in that moment, Keith thought he might explode. It was incredibly embarrassing. It’s not like Keith was unaware that he usually had a hard time talking to new people. He knew it was rare for him to have a semi-normal conversation with someone he didn’t really know. This one was even worse now that this attractive-yet-badly-dressed stranger had possibly started flirting with him?? Shiro was being completely unhelpful. He felt his face get hot again.

His shame must have been tactile, because Lance chose that moment to chirp, “Well, I’m gonna make my rounds!” and promptly fuck off, leaving Keith to simmer under the proud stare of his older brother figure.

Shiro opened his mouth to-

“ _Don’t,_ ” Keith hissed, crumpling the empty cup in his hand. He couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that Lance left so quickly after laying down that pick-up line. Guess that’s that, he thought. Oh well, that was probably for the best. Any longer and he probably would’ve done something stupid.

* * *

 

The evening proceeded pretty smoothly after that. Keith stuck to the snack table mostly, letting Shiro wander onto the dance floor. At some point Pidge came back to introduce him to Hunk, who Keith instantly liked. It probably had something to do with the fact that Hunk immediately recognized his costume, and complimented him appropriately. The man had incredible taste in movies, even if his own costume was a bit sub-par. Keith didn't really hold it against him, though. Aside from that, he was pretty easy to talk to. At least, until he and Pidge started rambling about tech stuff. Keith sort of lost them both after that, which made it easy for his eyes to drift in Lance’s direction from time to time.

The gangly, sequin-clad vampire had no trouble being rejected, he noticed. Keith had no idea how he did it: if he looked that ridiculous he’d have just stayed home. But Lance kept trying to charm everyone in the room, despite the fact that just about every short conversation ended in a huff or rolling eyes from his unlucky conversation partner. Sometimes he barely got a word out before the other person walked away. Keith couldn’t tell whether more people were deterred by the ‘FREE SUCC’ shirt or the bat ears. Maybe it was the awful face makeup? He could’ve gotten away without using any face paint at all, since underneath all that paste he was actually sort of attractive-

“He doesn’t get out too often,” Hunk piped up, jolting him back to the conversation. Keith’s new best friend had noticed his attention wandering, apparently. “So when he does, he kinda goes nuts trying to meet everyone.” He chuckled.

“Uh, who does?” He decided the best thing to do was to play dumb.

“Lance. You were watching him, right?” The question was innocent enough, and Hunk's voice lacked any indications that he was teasing.

Keith had to forcibly keep his shoulders from raising defensively, especially when he saw Pidge begin to grin from the corner of his eye. He tried to take a drink, then remembered that the cup in his hands was still crumpled and useless.

“Feeling a little thirsty, huh, Vlad?” Keith decided that Pidge was no longer Tron in that moment. Oh no. Pidge was a gremlin. They giggled when he shot them a look and took another sip of punch. Okay, now they were just rubbing it in.

Hunk laughed too, and Keith mentally demoted him from new best friend status. Not that he’d know the difference anyway. “You wouldn’t know to look at him, but the guy spends most of his time holed up in the apartment studying. He even takes online classes so he has more time for school.”

“So he doesn’t go to school on campus?” Keith glanced back towards the dance floor, but he’d lost sight of Lance in the crowd. Why did it matter, anyway? He played with the bar in his mouth, pushing his fangs up and down over and over. It was oddly cathartic.

“Nope.” Hunk shook his head. “I don’t think he’d want me to go too much into it.”

Keith could understand that, he guessed. He wouldn’t want Shiro or Pidge to tell random strangers too much about his life either. Then again, he had some pretty shitty things in his past. Things he didn’t want others to know right away. Those things weighed on him, affected almost every interaction he had with other people. Could Lance be carrying things like that too? He scanned the room again and supposed that everyone had things they didn’t want other people knowing. Maybe he studied really hard but got bad grades. Keith still couldn’t find him on the floor. Maybe he’d been an ugly kid, and made up for it with a weird devotion to school. He certainly didn’t have that problem anymore, but old habits died hard. Probably.

He finally noticed the bright red cape moving towards the exit. Was he leaving already? Keith checked the clock. It was barely 11. The party would last a few more hours, at least. Who was he, Cinderella? At that moment, Lance’s head turned. Somehow he locked eyes with Keith from all the way across the room. They both stood there, unmoving, for a few moments, before Lance pushed the door open and slipped out. It seemed like Lance wanted him to follow.

He didn’t realize he’d started to move until he felt a warm hand on his wrist. He jolted around to see Hunk with a surprisingly worried look on his face. “Keith, buddy. Be careful, ok?”

“What?” Keith glanced at Pidge for answers, but they looked as confused as he felt.

“Lance is a good guy, just. Hear him out first, and be careful. Yeah.” Hunk squeezed his wrist gently before letting go.

Keith rubbed his wrist with his other hand, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. What did Hunk think he was going to do? He just wanted to say goodbye before he left. Maybe he’d make a few jabs at his dumb costume, just for fun. But that was all. Did Hunk really think Keith had that much more socialization in him this evening? Whatever the deal was, Keith was still pretty confused as he moved through the crowd towards the door. He glanced back at his friends. Hunk smiled broadly and waved, while Pidge looked a little more sullen. Taking this as encouragement, Keith pushed the door open and walked outside.

The first thing that Keith noticed when he stepped outside was that Lance had wiped his makeup off. The second was that the street lights made the whole area way brighter than the inside of the building. He was actually squinting as he made his way over to Lance. He didn’t let himself dwell on the fact that he was voluntarily going after a total stranger after exactly one (1) pick up line. It wasn’t even a good pickup line at that.

“Hey, are you a mirror? Because I can see myself in you.”

Okay, make that two (2) bad pickup lines.

Keith winced. “That’s gross.” He had half a mind to just walk away at that point, but he didn’t. He did, however, stop walking.

Lance laughed, looking a little sheepish. “Yeah, you’re right.” Maybe it was the lighting, but Keith swore that he looked a little ashier than he had inside. Wasn’t he feeling well? That could be why he was trying to leave.

“Leaving already?” Keith asked, watching him.

Lance looked surprised. “Me? No way, the night is still young, and I have a lot more dancing to do before it’s over.” He laughed, moving his hips in a circle to demonstrate. Keith noticed his t-shirt was a bit too short, especially when he raised his arms to dance. “I just needed some air, you know? Plus I think if I don’t give everyone a break from all _this_ -” He gestured to himself from his shoulders all the way down, “- they might pass out. Swooning too hard. I'm sure you know how it is.” He shrugged, still grinning, and looked away. Keith watched him shuffle his feet a little. Lance made a point to step on a few leaves and listen to them crunch. He looked nervous for a moment. “But enough about that. Why’d you come out here? Afraid you wouldn’t get to say goodbye?”

So it seemed like Lance talked enough for the both of them. With the music inside being so loud, conversations tended to be short, so Keith hadn’t gotten the full Lance Effect before. He wasn’t sure if he wanted it now. Lance continued to prattle on while Keith was still trying to answer his question for himself. Why _had_ he followed Lance outside? What was he hoping to accomplish? It felt like the right thing to do, but why?

“I wanted to know what was up,” Keith finally said, cutting off Lance’s inane monologue. He fiddled with his gloves as he spoke. “I don’t usually get along with-” _Charming idiots in stupid costumes._ “New people.”

“That’s called chemistry, Keith.” Lance winked and leaned against a lamppost. “Of course, most people are just drawn to me. It’s to be expected, really.” He puffed out his chest and shot a finger gun in Keith’s direction.

Keith snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. “Bullshit. I saw you faceplant all over at _least_ five conversations already.” Lance’s cockiness wouldn’t be so endearing if he were actually as suave as he seemed to believe. As it was, Keith could feel himself smiling.

“At least I _had_ five conversations this evening!” Lance protested. He looked embarrassed, but didn’t have the decency to blush, apparently.

That was a little endearing too. “I wasn’t trying to talk to a lot of people.” Hence, why it was so weird that he was still talking to this one. He’d expected to talk to Pidge and Shiro this evening, and that’s it. Now he could barely count the number of people he’d conversed with on one hand.

“No kidding? You looked _so_ approachable all evening.” Lance smirked, cocking an eyebrow.

Keith narrowed his eyes. A leaf blew in front of his face. Was he making fun of him now? “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Lance laughed again. It made Keith’s chest feel a little funny. “Nothing. Well, just that you look a liiiiittle…” He wobbled his hand as he spoke. “Let’s just say stiff. Stuffy? Uncomfortable? I dunno, man. That cravat doesn’t really scream ‘talk to me!’”

Keith was fully frowning by now. “You didn’t have any trouble talking to me.”

“Yes, as we’ve established, I have a gift.” Lance waved his hands a little wildly.

“A gift for having people blow you off?”

“A gift for talking to you, at least.” And now he was flirting again. The grin on Lance’s face widened at Keith’s blush. He really needed to stop doing that.

“Did you even actually want to talk to me?” Keith crossed his arms and gave him a stern look, willing the heat from his cheeks.

It seemed to work: Lance’s bravado faded a little. “Well, yeah. I mean, _look_ at you.” He began to outright splutter when Keith smirked at him. “You have a great costume. That ponytail is something else. Sure, you could stand to lose a button or two. Maybe a whole waistcoat. But you have the best costume here hands down, dude. It’s pretty impressive.”

Keith could feel himself swell with pride. He’d always been weak to compliments. This was much better than the music student who started singing 'Angel Of Music' at him when he walked in. It was beyond him how someone could’ve gotten his costume that wrong.

Lance was still talking. “I mean, aside from mine, of course. No one really gets any vampirey-er than me.” That wasn’t even close to being a real word. “But you gave it your best shot.”

Ok, so he was back to the joking again. Keith laughed maybe a little too loudly. A thought occurred to him and he decided to go with it before he could think of a reason not to. He untied his cravat, folding it up neatly, and stuck it in the pocket of his overcoat. He then did the same thing with his gloves, before shrugging the coat off completely. It was far from stripping, considering he still had a shirt and waistcoat on, but maybe this would be a little less. Stuffy. “How’s that? Better?” He spun in a slow circle, Lance’s eyes practically burning a hole in his skin.

When he finished, Lance was looking at him with an odd expression on his face, though not quite in the way Keith had hoped. “Is that a…” He trailed off, staring at the side of Keith’s neck. His hand flew up to touch the base of his own neck as he spoke.

“What?” Oh, the fake bite marks. He forgot about those. “This?” He covered it with his hand, taking great care not to actually touch any of it. “It’s just makeup.”

“Right, right.” Lance nodded a few times. He glanced over his shoulder, stiffening. A moment of silence passed between them, and when Lance broke it, his voice sounded a bit strange. Keith couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong. Was it forced, maybe? “Listen, Keith. I’m gonna go grab a bite to eat, and then I’ll be back after. Can you be a doll and let Hunk know where I went?”

Keith furrowed his eyebrows, confused. “There’s food inside.”

Lance hadn't heard him, or maybe he just didn’t care, because he was already walking away. Keith saw him turn his head to spit the huge plastic teeth into a nearby trash can without breaking his stride. A strange feeling rose in his chest. Was he seriously going to ditch like that? Hadn’t they been sort of hitting it off? They locked eyes from across an entire party! That was straight out of a movie! Keith untied his cravat for this guy, and he was just gonna get weird about his makeup and _leave_?

He took a step forward. Lance froze for a moment, shoulders tensing. Keith stepped closer. No one else was out here: Lance could probably hear him on the sidewalk, especially with the dead leaves accenting his every move. “I’ll go with you.” The words were out of his mouth before he realized. What was he even saying? Why did he have a feeling that if Lance left now, he wasn’t going to go back to the party?

Lance stayed still, as if he was letting Keith’s words sink in. “No way, man.” He turned around, the smile on his face a little forced this time. “Sorry, but I actually kinda like you? So dinner isn’t really an option.”

Well, that made absolutely no sense. Keith ignored the way his heart skipped a beat when Lance said he kinda liked him. Instead he watched Lance’s lips move as he spoke.

“I have this reputation at the diner, you see. They call me ‘Lone Wolf Lance.’ All the waitresses flirt with me in between my coffee refills,” he bragged, wiping imaginary dust off his shoulder. "If I brought a date with me, well, I can't guarantee that they'd let you leave in one piece. So really, it's for your protection."

Keith could not imagine a drink more poorly suited for Lance than coffee. As if he needed any excess energy. “And I’m gonna be real, that makeup on your neck is really freaking me out," Lance added, managing to drag his eyes to Keith's face for only a moment before staring at his neck again. Keith noticed a flash of sharp white teeth as he spoke.

He must have been seeing things. He watched Lance spit out his fake teeth, right? Was he wearing another pair underneath them? These ones were much more realistic. They looked dangerous. A chill went down Keith's spine.

“Is it too gorey?” he asked. He refused to cover it up now. Tying that cravat had been surprisingly difficult, and he could do it only once a year. That was his rule.

Lance’s eyes darted around before he answered. “Yeah, a little.” He rubbed his own neck again. “Not that blood grosses me out, or anything! It just surprised me.”

“You don’t have to look at it,” Keith offered, stepping closer. Lance tensed up even more.

“I don’t know if you realize this, Keith, but it’s pretty hard to miss, covering that whole side right there. Like, maybe if I do this-” Lance’s head shot forward, barely missing Keith’s face, to stop by his ear opposite the mark. He continued in a low whisper, his lips practically grazing Keith’s ear, “Then I can’t see it, but this causes more problems than it solves, right?”

No, wrong, Keith could not think of a single problem this caused. Lance was right up against him now. His heart thudded in his chest. “Problems like what?” The only thing he could _possibly_ think of was that if he stayed here too long he might self-destruct. He stared at the moths flying around one of the lamps in a poor attempt to distract himself.

A beat of silence passed. Keith could almost hear the gears in Lance’s head turning. They must not get much exercise, he thought with a grin. “Problems like. Uh. I’m gonna be honest for a second, everyone else usually just agrees with me and tells me to fuck off, so I don’t really have an answer for you at the moment.” His lips were _definitely_ right up against Keith’s ear now. They were cold, just like his hand had been earlier.

Keith balled his hands into fists at his sides. What was he supposed to do in this situation? Hunk told him to be careful, did this still count? “Why do they tell you to fuck off?” he asked, then almost kicked himself for sounding so breathless.

Lance laughed softly and shrugged. He must have been serious about not wanting to see Keith’s makeup anymore, because he sure was _still right there_. “They never stick around long enough for me to ask. I mean, I have a pretty good guess but I’ve never actually been able to explain to anyone. Except Hunk, but he already knew because he was there. Maybe they just get a bad feeling?”

What the hell was he talking about? Keith was totally lost. “Uh. Maybe?” He had noticed a few off putting things about Lance, but nothing actually bad, right? Aside from the bat ear clips. That he could do without. Even his tight pants were doable.

Lance’s shoulders shook as he laughed. “Oh man, I bet I’m not making any sense, am I?” He sighed quietly, his lips actually brushing Keith’s cheek.

Keith guessed he was making a weird face, but he couldn’t be sure. He could just feel the way his mouth twisted in a mix of confusion and amusement. “Not really,” he admitted. Not knowing what else to do, he reached out and patted Lance awkwardly on the shoulder.

“Okay, I’m just gonna blurt it out, and I don’t want you to laugh.” Was he actually fidgeting? What was his deal, anyway?

Keith sighed. Whatever it was, he wanted Lance to say it so he’d stop acting weird. Though, to be fair, he had been acting weird just about the whole evening. He was probably just a strange person. “Okay, fine. Tell me why everyone keeps fucking off.” Keith rolled his eyes, then stared at the sky in wait.

Silence. Keith let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

Lance eventually huffed and pushed himself away from him, pacing a few steps away. When Keith looked ahead again, Lance had his face in his phone. The tip of his tongue stuck out the side of his mouth as he tapped the screen furiously.

“What are you doing?” Keith asked. Where was he storing that thing? Keith didn’t see it at all before now. He glanced down to Lance’s pants for answers.

“I’m texting Hunk for help, duh.” Lance made a face at him like this should be obvious. “He’s better at talking about weird stuff than I am. I make up for it by being the fun one.” He rested a proud hand on his chest, grinning smugly at that. His phone went off with a ding and he immediately buried his face in it again.

Keith sighed and crossed his arms. Lance began to mumble to himself, obviously displeased with Hunk’s response. Finally he huffed and stuffed his phone in _literally the waistband_ of his pants. They were tight enough to keep it in place even when he was dancing? Keith couldn’t help it: he was impressed.

“He told me to just tell you I’m a vampire! Like, straight up!” Lance blurted out. It took him a second to realize what he’d said, but as soon as he did, he clapped both hands over his mouth.

Keith blinked, waiting for more explanation. “Okay?”

Lance planted both of his hands on his hips and squinted at him like he was searching for something in Keith’s face. “What do you mean, okay?”

“I mean I saw your costume a long time ago.” Keith was honestly blanking. Clearly, Lance had been leading up to this supposedly ‘big confession,’ and that’s all it was?

The nervous expression on Lance’s face quickly turned flat. “Dude. Seriously? You think I got all anxious and stuff cause I thought you _hadn’t seen my costume_?” His voice was rising steadily in pitch as he spoke. “I’m talking about being a real flippin' monster right now!” He waved his hands around wildly as he spoke.

Keith raised an eyebrow. This man had absolutely lost his marbles, hadn’t he? Either that, or he really wanted Keith to leave him alone. Those were the most probable explanations. “Lance, I-”

“You don’t believe me, do you? Ughhhh….” Lance groaned again and dragged his hand down his face. “Hunk warned me about this,” he mumbled. He pulled out his phone and sent another text. Keith was a little worried he’d snap his phone in half with the way he was holding it. Suddenly his eyes lit up. “What if I prove it to you?” He stuck his phone back in his pants and stared directly into Keith’s eyes again, a devious smile spreading across his face. His abnormally long teeth flashed in the light of the street lamp. Keith didn’t even think that was a thing teeth could do.

Keith frowned incredulously and leaned away. “What are you gonna do, eat me?” _Be careful_ , Hunk had said. Keith highly doubted that this was being careful. Searching his face for answers yielded nothing except the fact that Lance’s eyelashes were incredibly long. He also had a very nice jawline.

Lance huffed. “Not without permission, man. And you can’t give that if you don’t believe me.” That… was a surprisingly thoughtful point. Keith had to concede that one. “What do you take me for?” He closed the gap between them in an instant. An icy hand touched Keith’s chin and tilted his face upward. There were those eerie blue eyes again. “I just want to mack on you for a minute.” He shrugged innocently. There was that snarky smile again. How could Keith argue with that?

Pretty easily, actually. “How in the _hell_ is that going to prove anything?” Keith bristled. His cheeks were on fire.

“Just trust me for a moment, okay? Give me a break, I’ve never done this before. I’m not gonna hurt you or anything!” Was he… pouting? The guy had done two incredibly serious things in the last minute- confessing to being a monster and asking to make out with a guy he’d just met- and now he was pouting like a little kid? Keith had no idea how to handle him.

But what the hell, humoring him for a second couldn’t hurt. That’s what he wanted when he followed him out, wasn’t it? For something like this to happen? He gave a short laugh and shrugged nonchalantly. Almost too late, he popped the fake teeth out of his mouth and stuffed them in his pants pocket. “Okay. Try me.” Keith closed his eyes and took a quick breath, half expecting Lance not to follow through with it.

Turns out he was mistaken. Lance’s lips were on his in a second, gentle and soft. And _cold_ , enough so that Keith couldn’t help but gasp at the sensation. He didn’t pull away, though. It was almost refreshing, once he got used to it. It left a tingling feeling, like he’d rubbed peppermint all over his mouth. He reached up to steady himself on Lance’s shoulder so he could focus less on balancing and more on kissing back, his forgotten coat dropping to the ground. He flicked his tongue along Lance’s lower lip, curious to see if that would tingle too.

Lance hadn’t expected Keith to really go with it, apparently, what with the startled noise he made. He froze for a moment, but recovered quickly, relaxing with a sigh into Keith’s parted lips. Keith instantly decided he liked this reaction very much. He wanted, no, he _needed_ to surprise him like that again. What would be the best way to do that?

They were pressed together now, and Keith was almost sure that Lance could feel his heart beating through his ribcage. He couldn’t suppress the breathy moan that escaped him when Lance began sucking on his lower lip, or the gasp when Lance’s hand ran down his side to rest on his hip. Fuck, he was actually really good at this, wasn’t he? Keith was getting all sorts of messed up. Lance was totally winning this makeout. He had to do something desperate, for the sole purpose of gaining the upper hand again, obviously. Not because he was really, really getting into kissing this guy.

He waited until Lance’s lips opened again, then quickly stuck his tongue straight in his mouth. It shouldn’t have surprised him at this point, but even the inside of Lance’s mouth was cooler than normal. That observation quickly fled his mind though, because at that moment Lance decided to _suck on his tongue_. Holy shit, that went straight down his spine. Lance didn’t taste like anything in particular, but that was okay with him. He may have gotten a little over enthusiastic then, flicking his tongue up behind Lance’s teeth a few times.

In retrospect, going spelunking inside the mouth of some guy who claimed to have fangs was a very bad idea. This became apparent when a searing pain cut into his tongue. He could taste blood and _man_ that stung. Keith yelped and started to pull away, but froze when he felt the low, desperate moan begin to sound in Lance’s chest. His eyes shot open. The other man’s eyes were screwed shut, and Keith could feel his hands shaking. If Keith wasn’t mistaken, he could almost swear that Lance looked like he was about to cry.

Then Lance’s tongue was on his, lapping at the wound. Holy shit. He was actually drinking his blood! Keith’s thoughts raced through his mind too quickly for him to comprehend any of them. Blood pounded in his ears. It was suddenly very hard for him to breathe. Should he pull himself away and run? What if that just cut his mouth up worse?? Unsure of what else to do, he grunted and flicked Lance in the temple _hard_. Maybe that would get him to stop before Keith started actually panicking.

Lance pulled away as if he’d been stuck with a poker, instantly letting go of Keith and jumping a few feet back. His blue eyes were wide and frantic as he waved his hands in front of him. “I didn’t mean for that to happen, honest!”

Keith concentrated on keeping his breathing even. Already, the pain in his mouth was gone. He wasn’t even bleeding anymore, if the lack of taste in his mouth was anything to go by. Keith touched his fingers to his tongue. They came back clean. That made it a little better.

Lance waved his arms. “I just thought you’d be like ‘oh, ew, you’re super cold! Why aren’t you breathing?’ and that would be it!” He ran a hand through his hair, knocking one of his bat ears askew. To be honest, Keith had been too busy kissing to notice whether Lance was breathing or not.

It was pretty hard to disbelieve him at this point. It was all there- the icy touch, the fangs, the legit blood drinking. He’d even closed the cut with weird vampire magic. Keith really couldn’t deny all those things, even if he wanted to. He looked up at the man gesticulating wildly under the streetlamp. This guy, really? Out of all the people to shatter his reality- to reveal to him that vampires were, in fact, real and possibly terrifying- it had to be this loser in tight pants?

Lance stopped his self-destructive tirade when he heard a noise from Keith. Worried he was about to call for help, or something, Lance looked over. Keith’s shoulders were shaking, his face hidden as he shook his head slowly. Was he crying? Lance took a tentative step towards him. He heard another sound from Keith. “Pfft. Oh my _god_.”

Keith threw his head and howled. There were tears in his eyes, for sure, but tears of _laughter_. “Holy shit, man. You’re like… the worst vampire _ever_!” Seriously, he couldn’t intimidate his way out of a wet paper bag if he had to. Maybe it was shock, or maybe adrenaline, but Keith didn’t stop laughing for a good minute and a half. That was a long time for him.

When he finally calmed down, Lance was worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. “So you’re not pissed at me?” he asked, fidgeting. Keith swore he saw his cheeks turn the slightest shade of pink. Was that because of the blood?

He thought about the question for a moment. True to form, Lance continued to talk while he waited. “I really didn’t think that would happen. I mean, I’m not complaining, cause that’s the best kiss I’ve had in awhile. Is that how you usually kiss guys you’ve just met? Cause wow.” He blushed a little deeper and scratched the back of his neck. “I really wasn’t expecting you to do that thing with your tongue, and then it just tasted so _good_ -”

“I’m not angry.” No one had ever praised Keith’s makeout abilities before; certainly not in such an honest way. He needed to change the subject pronto, before his own face turned red again. “But I am confused.”

The tension in Lance’s shoulders practically evaporated. “Ok, I can handle confused. Ask me anything, baby.” Did he really think that smarmy face of his was effective? Because he was right, at least as far as Keith was concerned. The ensuing finger guns were a little much though.

Lance’s mood quickly sobered when Keith started actually asking questions. He went straight for the obvious one first: “How in the world did this happen?”

Keith expected a ridiculous story at this point. Something made up, or at least exaggerated for dramatic effect. He truly didn’t expect Lance to smile so sadly when he responded. “It was a freak accident. One moment I was sneaking out to the bar with Hunk, the next I was just sort of pulled away? It’s honestly pretty hard to remember. Hunk swears the only reason they didn’t get him too is ‘cause he threw up when he saw all the blood.” His smile grew softer then. “Accidentally genius maneuver. I’m glad I missed that part. I do remember waking back up in the apartment, though. Still don’t know how Hunk got them to let me go. He won’t tell me.” Lance’s laugh was almost a sigh as he stared at his feet.

“So… this happened recently?”

“Last year, at the end of the summer.” Lance nodded once, still looking at the ground. No wonder he was so bad at being scary. He was basically a newbie, wasn’t he? A year and odd months was practically nothing in vampire years.

Keith frowned. "Here? In town?"

Lance grimaced. He rubbed that same spot on his neck again, looking stressed. "Yeah." He nodded. "I haven't noticed them since, though," he added hastily.

He had to think over that for a moment. Lance had bitten him (sort of), hadn’t he? Was this going to happen to him too? Admittedly, he didn’t feel any different, but maybe it was only a matter of time. He brushed his finger along the tip of his tongue, checking again for blood.

Lance laughed, guessing his train of thought from the look on his face “Nah, man, you’re perfectly fine. It takes a loooooot more than that to turn a guy. Like I’d have to take enough for you to straight up die. Then I’d have to make you bite me before you pass out.” The way he waved his hand was very matter-of-fact.

Keith slowly started digesting the information Lance was throwing at him. It was a little difficult once Lance started tapping away at his phone again.

“So…” Keith had one final question for the night. “If this is your everyday life, why did you dress up like _that_ for the party?”

Lance looked up at him, eyes wide and excited. “Why, I thought you’d never ask!” He smoothed out his shirt. “Because it’s brilliant, that’s why. Who would ever expect something actually spooky out of a guy in a sparkly cape and fuzzy ears?” He giggled, flicking the ear that was already barely hanging on. It took the opportunity to give the fuck up and fall onto the ground. Lance’s eyes sparkled in pride.

“The contacts too?”

Lance snorted. “Nah, these are just close to my old eye color. They’re easier to look at even though they’re fake as hell,” he laughed. “Like how you’ve got red ones in, but they don’t look creepy because they’re obviously fake?”

Keith opened his mouth in an indignant protest.

“Come on, dude, that's not a bad thing!” Lance waved his arms, narrowly avoiding the street lamp. “Mine are real, and it creeps people out. That’s why I get the fake teeth too! I blend in better when I look all fake.”

Keith dwelled on that for a moment. “They wouldn't creep _me_ out.” He crossed his arms. Okay, so maybe he was pouting a little.

Lance smiled for a moment, then looked serious. “No offense, but you’re not the only person who’d see if I took these babies out,” Lance reminded him. He pointed to his eyes. “I appreciate the thought though. Maybe next time.”

Keith’s heart pounded in his chest. Next time? He pretended not to hear that part. “So… you go out in costume because no one expects an actual vampire to be dressed like a vampire?”

Lance looked proud of himself again. “Got it in one, Keith. Plus, on the off chance that something bad did happen, everyone would just look the other way cause it’s _Halloween_!”

Keith had to give it to him. Lots of creepy stuff could happen on Halloween and be written off as a prank. Plus, he really couldn’t think of a guy less suited to being creepy than this one in front of him. It _was_ a pretty good disguise. Hiding in plain sight.

“How often does something bad happen?” he asked. Keith wasn’t really sure if he wanted to know the answer to this question. Had he just made out with a murderer? That would be a little much, even by his standards. Sure, he liked vampire stories, but he was mostly interested in _Interview with the Vampire_ because of the period costumes.

“It hasn’t.” Lance reassured him quickly. “Turns out I’m really good at this. It was pretty hard to get used to at the beginning, yeah, but I’ve lived with Hunk this whole time, and he’s still okay.” He noticed Keith's suspicious look. "I'm serious! I haven't hurt anyone!"

How? Keith’s question died in his throat as Lance’s phone went off. “Speaking of Hunk,” he mumbled, glancing at the text. “He says I should thank you for not freaking out, and then come back inside because he- wait, he requested It’s Raining Men? We’ve gotta get back in so we don’t miss it!” In a motion so natural Keith could almost swear he’d done this a million times before, he reached out to take Keith’s wrist. He looked embarrassed and paused when he realized what he'd done.

Keith barely remembered to scoop up his coat, so swept up in the movement. He adjusted Lance’s grip until their fingers laced together. Lance fumbled for a moment, face turning red again. It didn’t take him long to recover, though, and after a soft squeeze he started chattering away about showing off his best moves on the floor. His hand was warmer than it had been earlier. The blood must've definitely helped, which was good.

As Lance held open the door for him with a dramatic bow, Keith decided he was glad to have come to this party after all. Even if someone else ended up being the better vampire.

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a one-shot I published on Halloween, and it's morphed into this. Thanks for reading!  
> The songs mentioned are:  
> [BBHMM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHkpGJcB0HU) \- Rihanna  
> [It's Raining Men](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5aZJBLAu1E) \- The Weather Girls  
> Check out [this awesome art](https://twitter.com/teikouarc/status/798717688755277824) by [@teikouarc](https://twitter.com/teikouarc)!  
> my tumblr- [space-partners](http://space-partners.tumblr.com/)  
> my twitter- [@catsnore](https://twitter.com/catsnore)  
> talk to me!!


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